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PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 22-2033

NOTICES

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

Childhood Blood Lead Test Act

[52 Pa.B. 8289]
[Saturday, December 31, 2022]

 The act of November 3, 2022 (P.L. 2135, No. 150), known as the Childhood Blood Lead Test Act (act), was signed into law on November 3, 2022. The act takes effect on January 2, 2023. The act provides for blood lead assessment and testing of certain children and pregnant women by health care providers; imposes duties on the Department of Health (Department); and requires certain health insurance policies to cover blood lead tests. The purposes of the act are to substantially reduce and eventually eliminate the incidence of childhood lead poisoning in this Commonwealth, to improve public awareness of lead safety issues in housing, to educate property owners and tenants about practices that can reduce the incidences of lead poisoning and to encourage testing of all children in this Commonwealth by 2 years of age so that prompt diagnosis and treatment, as well as prevention of harm, are possible.

 The act provides that a health care provider will consider possible lead exposure in patients, including pregnant woman, by evaluating risk factors for lead exposures and perform blood lead testing in accordance with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) for children 24 months of age or under and the CDC and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) guidelines for pregnant women. If a patient has never been tested in accordance with the recommendations from the CDC and the AAP guidelines by 24 months of age, a health care provider will consider possible lead exposure and perform blood lead testing in an individual patient between 24 months of age and 72 months of age. A health care provider will make reasonable efforts to ensure that a patient's parent or legal guardian understands the risks and benefits of blood lead testing prior to obtaining consent. If a patient's parent or legal guardian consents to blood lead testing for the patient and the results of a capillary blood lead test indicate an elevated blood lead level, the health care provider will perform confirmatory blood lead test by venipuncture within 12 weeks of the first blood lead test after obtaining consent from the patient's parent or legal guardian.

 A health insurance policy or government program will provide to covered individuals or recipients blood lead tests as identified in accordance with recommendations from the CDC, AAP and ACOG.

 For additional information, individuals can visit https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/Lead%20Poisoning/Pages/ Lead%20poisoning.aspx or contact Lien Nguyen, PublicHealth Program Manager, Division of Child and Adult Health Services, at (717) 772-2762. For speech and/or hearing-impaired persons the Pennsylvania Hamilton Relay Services at (800) 654-5984 (TDD users) or (800) 654-5988 (voice users).

DR. DENISE A. JOHNSON, 
Acting Secretary

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 22-2033. Filed for public inspection December 30, 2022, 9:00 a.m.]


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